Mookie Betts, full-time shortstop?
That seems to be the Dodgers’ plan going forward to start the 2024 season.
Amid infielder Gavin Lux’s fielding woes this spring training, Los Angeles will shift Betts to shortstop and put Lux at second base.
Manager Dave Roberts told reporters in Arizona on Friday that the changes are “permanent for now.”
“Just to make this move right now, it’s something that the entire organization feels is the right thing to do to give us the best chance to prevent runs and to win baseball games,” Roberts said, according to the Associated Press.
Lux was expected to take over the shortstop duties in 2023 but he tore his ACL during Cactus League play, and he missed the entire regular season.
The 26-year-old went back to the position this spring, but things went awry quickly, as he made two errors in just 10 innings and had trouble throwing the ball to first base.
He will now shift back to second base, where he spent most of 22.
“I think that, specific to Gavin, it gives him an opportunity to get to the other side of the diamond,” Roberts said. “So to get him back over there, shorten the throw, it should be less of a toll on his body overall and give him an opportunity to have success.”
That now means Betts will take over at shortstop, a spot he played 16 games last season.
But the 2018 American League MVP admitted he has not been a full-time shortstop for a very long time.
“Probably my senior year in high school,” Betts said when asked about the last time he mainly played at short.
Early returns, in an extremely small sample size, were not great, however.
According to The Athletic, Betts missed a ground ball that he tried to backhand, and Lux failed to turn a double play after bouncing a throw to first base during Friday’s game against the Reds before it got canceled due to inclement weather.
The Dodgers are just 11 days away from opening up the season in South Korea, and for a team that has heightened expectations after a frenzied offseason of high spending, the last thing they want is a question about the important middle infield defense.